Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has an estimate of the earliest possible date Jascayd (nerandomilast) could be available to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Nerandomilast does not currently have a United Kingdom marketing authorisation for use in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It is currently being evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS.
Subject to licensing, NICE currently expects to publish final guidance on nerandomilast in September 2026.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered the implications of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal for the potential approval of Jascayd (nerandomilast).
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific consideration of the implications of the United Kingdom and United States’ Economic Prosperity Deal for the approval of Jascayd (nernadomilast) has been made. The changes that we are making to the way in which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates medicines are expected to increase the number of medicines that NICE is able to recommend for National Health Service use. NICE will continue to develop its recommendations on whether individual medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS independently on the basis of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with interested parties.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the eligibility criteria for the Graduate Guarantee scheme for newly qualified nurses and midwives in England was determined.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Graduate Guarantee is a workforce measure aimed at improving the access and transition into employment for newly qualified nurses and midwives in England.
It is aimed at ensuring that the 2025 cohort has opportunities to apply for roles across the health and care sector, ensuring that students who qualified in September 2025 and January 2026 will directly benefit. There is no national eligibility criterion, reflecting that employment decisions sit locally with National Health Service trusts and that individuals may choose when to apply following qualification.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the Graduate Guarantee scheme for newly qualified nurses and midwives in England to include graduates who qualified prior to 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. There are no plans to extend the Graduate Guarantee to include graduates who qualified prior to 2024.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase the recruitment and retention of school nurses; how much funding was allocated for school nursing services in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years; and what steps his Department is taking to help to ensure the effectiveness of school nursing services in supporting (i) early intervention, (ii) mental health, (iii) immunisation programmes and (iv) wider public health objectives.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The child health workforce, including school nurses, is central to how we support families to give their children the best start in life. We will ensure we have the staff we need so that children and their families are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This will take time, but we are committed to building a health service fit for the future with the workforce it needs.
School nursing is part of the Healthy Child Programme (HCP) and is commissioned by local authorities with funding from the Public Health Grant (PHG). In 2023/24, local authorities spent £305 million on services for children aged five to 19 years old. Data on local authorities’ PHG spending for the financial years following 2023/24 is not yet available.
The HCP includes delivery of public health promotions such as the school nurses’ championship of early intervention, mental health awareness, the uptake of immunisation offers, and engagement with wider public health objectives. We are currently refreshing the HCP guidance to strengthen service quality and reduce unwarranted regional variation in service delivery.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the planned changes to funding for Level 7 apprenticeships for Specialist Community Public Health Nurses after January 2026; and what steps his Department is taking to support skills development within the NHS workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department for Education has announced that the funding arrangements for Level 7 apprenticeships are changing, we are working closely with partners to ensure that health and social care has access to the skilled workforce patients need, including specialist community public health nurses.
We will publish our 10 Year Workforce Plan by the end of this year. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that lessons learned from the COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce will inform its approach to managing the shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT).
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not conducted a 360-degree supply and demand forecast for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). However, the Department is in regular discussion with suppliers of PERT on the latest stock availability and the actions that are being taken to mitigate the supply issue, including what steps suppliers are taking to ensure future supplies meet the long-term needs for patients in the United Kingdom.
The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market.
In the longer term, the Department has had interest from non-UK suppliers of PERT wishing to bring their products to the UK and, along with colleagues in the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, we are working with these potential suppliers, and if authorised, these products could further diversify and strengthen the market.
While the Department's approach for managing the supply issues with PERT is not specifically informed by the COVID-19 Vaccines Taskforce experience, as we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues for PERT.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted a 360-degree supply and demand forecast for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy to assess the long-term needs for patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not conducted a 360-degree supply and demand forecast for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). However, the Department is in regular discussion with suppliers of PERT on the latest stock availability and the actions that are being taken to mitigate the supply issue, including what steps suppliers are taking to ensure future supplies meet the long-term needs for patients in the United Kingdom.
The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market.
In the longer term, the Department has had interest from non-UK suppliers of PERT wishing to bring their products to the UK and, along with colleagues in the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, we are working with these potential suppliers, and if authorised, these products could further diversify and strengthen the market.
While the Department's approach for managing the supply issues with PERT is not specifically informed by the COVID-19 Vaccines Taskforce experience, as we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues for PERT.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the (a) consultation on NHS Right to Choose ADHD changes and (b) use of feedback from that consultation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job; we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to NHS dentistry in Worsley and Eccles constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Worsley and Eccles constituency, this is the NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.